Stuff I Learned Yesterday
About Stuff I Learned Yesterday
Stuff I Learned Yesterday is a podcast that aims to encourage, inspire, challenge, motivate, and improve the lives of those who listen to it. Stuff I Learned Yesterday is released each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each episode ranges from 5-15 minutes long and contain short stories based on real events and lessons learned by the hosts. Friday episodes are called the Friday Forum and are filled with inspirational and motivational thoughts submitted by Stuff I Learned Yesterday listeners. Submit your story for a Friday Forum episode by calling 304-837-2278, visiting our feedback page, or click on the Send a Voice Message button on the left hand side of this page.
401- Mountain Top Experiences
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I grew up in the church and we have a phrase, “mountain top experiences.” It is used to describe times of intense emotions, spiritual breakthrough and growth. Growing up and even as an adult I have had many. I cherish them, but the challenge is coming back down or serving others in the midst of them. It’s hard to go back to the valley. Read more…
400- The Path Not Taken, Before Now…
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I started my new job on February 1st. For those Stuff I Learned Yesterday faithful you’ll remember that I talked about my journey through unemployment on Episode 375 that posted on December 16, 2015. This turn in my career path is significant for many reasons so let me give you a little bit of my history. When I started as a student in college one of my best friends, who was two years ahead of me asked me if I could sit for three hours a week and take loan applications. Sure, I said. That started what would turn into more than 25 years of service in the credit union movement. For school it was all-volunteer but it was learning everything that made a credit union run the way it does. After school it was becoming a loan officer then a Vice President at a municipal employees credit union where I really learned what it meant to serve and lead people all at the same time. From there I took over as CEO of the credit union for the Food Lion grocery store employees and their families. It was an amazing eleven years where I grew our small staff into a real family that supported and challenged one another all the time. I had many, many wins and more than a few face-palm moments. It’s hard to sum up 11 years into a few concise thoughts. Suffice to say I look back and smile a lot. Read More…
399- Am I an Impostor
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I discovered quickly that not everyone gets excited when a someone offers a course, product, or service in their field. And I started letting some of the negative feedback get to me. I found myself feeling like an imposter, which is especially hard for someone like me who, for some reason, was under the impression that if I created something, of course everyone would love it. I found myself asking questions like, “Who am I to teach this stuff? Why would anyone listen to me?” I thought, “I’m not qualified to be in this space, especially compared to [fill-in-the-blank awesome legendary teacher].” But, in light of some of this negative, or at least less than positive chatter, I was getting notes from people who had taken my class and attended my webinar saying things like, “Thank you so much for putting on this class! I feel like I have a direction and goal in my life now, and I know have support along the way,” and “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you, thanks for providing this course!” In addition to that, in the quiet moments, when it was just me working on my course without any outside noise, I was loving it. I truly enjoyed the process of creating the course and making it available for others to learn from. Read More…
398- Inspired by Drones
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The first official leg of the Drones World Tour kicked off in Mexico City on November 17, 18, 20, and 21. The band then had just over a week before their next concert which took place in Houston on December 1st. Our Dallas concert took place the very next night after Houston on December 2nd. When we arrived at the arena, we noticed signs on the doors that said due to technical and logistic difficulties from the previous night in Houston and during set-up in Dallas, the show would not be starting on time. Not only that, but the opening act, Phantogram, had been scrubbed from the Dallas show completely. The doors were originally scheduled to open at 6. They ended up opening the doors at 9, and Muse didn’t take the stage until 10:40pm. Read More…
397- Friday Forum
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Today is the Friday Forum!! IIn today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Hannah. Hannah shares a story about how facing her fears allowed her to have one of the best weekends ever. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More…
396- Achieving Your Goals – One Step at a Time
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We often talk about goals at the beginning of the year when we set them, and at the end of the year when we measure ourselves against them, but it’s important to track your progress as you go. Why? Because you can gauge how you are doing to meet your goals, and modify them if you need to make a mid-course correction. Read more…
395- Let Loose and Have Fun
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Did you know that the first roller coasters were built out of ice? In the 17th century long before any type of leisure entertainment industry was established, Russians built large wooden slides frozen over with ice for people to ride down at tremendous speeds. These slides would often rise up seventy or eighty feet and the ramps stretched for hundreds. A staircase led up to the launch area where riders mounted a sled made of either wood or ice. The ice sleds were simply a block of ice with a straw mat adding some protection between the freezing ice and the riders’ bottoms. A length of rope was looped through a hole drilled in the block so that sliders had something to hold onto. Once riders were positioned on their blocks, all it took was a little shove and off they went! Occasionally bumps were added at the end of the slide to introduce a little more excitement. Even Catherine the Great was known to enjoy the thrill of the ice slides and had a few built on her property.
Even 17th century royalty knew how to cut loose and have fun every now and then. Can you imagine an empress going sledding? I’m sorry – riding an ice roller coaster? So if Catherine the Great can lower her guard enough to act a little silly, why should we be any different? Read more…
394- Passing Down Legends
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Passing on legends and stories. While some children will roll their eyes when story time starts-especially depending on the relative—down deep they know that their history gives them a grounding, somewhere that they’ve come from and also ideas on where they might be heading. There’s other kinds of stories too. Stories like the Bible, Greek mythology, King Arthur as I mentioned earlier. Stories that have spoken to you and make you reflect. Stories that help shape your values and lifestyle choices. The Star Wars mythos has been a lot of that for me. And now that I have four children I get the joy of passing my Star Wars experiences down to them. Read More…
393- Falling Out of Focus
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We are all going to make mistakes. In fact, because we all make mistakes, we all pretty much expect others to make them too. We don’t expect perfection out of people. Well, at least we shouldn’t. Let me put it this way. The best single season batting average in Major League Baseball history is .4397 by Hugh Duffy in 1894. That means that he failed 56% of the time, and he’s the best ever! Read More…
392- Friday Forum
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Today is the Friday Forum!! IIn today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Justina. Justina shares lessons she has learned about finding hope and focusing on the positives as she has gone through recent job changes. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More…